The present invention relates to a transfer member device which is used in an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet by transferring a color agent from the transfer member to the sheet in accordance with a latent image, and which stores the transfer member.
Among conventional image forming apparatuses of this type, there are thermal printers which print by heating a ribbon (transfer member) impregnated with a color agent. Generally, small-sized, low-priced, noise-free, and capable of printing on ordinary paper, these printing machines have recently been used in computers, recorders for the output of word processors, and copying apparatuses.
In a thermal printer of this type, two ends of a ribbon (transfer member) impregnated with a color agent are wound around corresponding roll shafts. When image transfer (image formation) is performed, the ribbon is take up from one roll shaft to the other roll shaft. When the ribbon is replaced with a new one, two roll shafts are removed one at a time. A new ribbon is wound around the two roll shafts which are then set in the thermal printer. In this manner, ribbon replacement in the conventional thermal printer is cumbersome, and the operator's hands become soiled as the operator holds the ribbon in order to replace the used ribbons with the new one. Wrinkles are also formed in the ribbon when it is touched.